Rail joint



April 28, 1925.

H. A. WREN RAIL JOINT Filed Junev s. 1924.

H. d?. Wrgn.

PafeiaaApr. 28, 1925.

" UNITED STA TES HARVEY A. WREN,

HUNDREDTHS T0 Jl'. L. PAUL, OF

RAIL

or NAVY YARD, scorn CAROLINA, AssIeNoR or roRTY oNR- JOHNS ISLAND,soU'rH CAROLINA.

JoIN'r.- i

Application filed June 3, .19244. Serial No. l'117,598.\

To all whom it may' conce/m:

Be it known that I, HARVEY A. WREN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Navy Yard, in the county of Charleston and State of SouthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail`Joints ;r and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such ,as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of a rail jointwhich will practically possess the same resiliency as the rail, therebypreventing fracture at the joint which is attributable to the usualrigid nature thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, a shplate of angle formationhas the intermediate portion of the upper edge of its vertical memberstraight and ada ted to engage beneath the heads of l adjacent rail ens, said upper edge sloping from the intermediate straight portion to theends of the shplate.v

The invention furthermore contemplates a fishplatein which the lateralor horizontal member has its intermediate portionV upon the bottom sidehollow, whereby to provide for flexing so that, as hereinbefore stated,the joint will be substantially as resilient as the body of the railwith the result that fracture is prevented. y,

Other objects and advantages will be apparent andsuggest' themselves asthe nature of the invention is understood. While the drawings illustratean embodiment of the invention it is to be understood that in adaptingthe same to meet different vconditions `and requirements, variouschanges in the'form, proportion; and minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the nature of the invention'. i el Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of theapplication, v

Figure 1 is a side view of a rail joint embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof, Figure 3 is a ylongitudinalsection through the base of the fishplate, and

4Figure Il is a detail view in perspective of the ishplate.

The numeral 1 designates the ends of ad* jacent rails which. are adaptedto be coupled to form a rail joint. Similar or like ishplatesfaredisposed uponopposite sides of the joint and overlap the rails ends towhich they are bolted. Eachl of the {ishplates comprisesa verticalmember 2 and a horizontal member 3, the vertical member 2 /being placedagainst the web portions of the rail ends l and the horizontal portion 3overlying the lianges at one side of the rail ends and forming the facethereof. The intermediate portion 4 of the top edge of the verticalmember 2 is straight and lits` snugly beneath the heads of the rail endsso as to support the joint when subject to vertical stress. Opposite endportions 5 of the top edge of the vertical member 2 slope towards theends of the lishplate so as to provide a l'space between said endortions 5 and the heads of the rail ends w ereby the joint is lrenderedresilient so `as to have approximately the same yield as the body of therail. A longitudinal rib 6 is disposed along the top. edge of thevertical member 2 and extends laterally therefrom to engage the webportions of the rail ends adjacent the heads thereof. It will beunderstood that `the rib 6 reinforces the upper edge of the member 2.The angle formed by the vertical member 2 and horizontal member 3 isstrengthened by rib 7 and the outer edge ofthe horizontal member 3. hasa rib 8 to stifen and reinforce said member 3 so that it may be made ofsuiiiciently light construe tion to yield. The intermediate portion 9 ofthe horizontal member 3 is hollow upon its bottom side and comesopposite the joint formed between the base flanges of the rail ends 1,thereby materially adding to the resiliency of the joint.

In practice, a rail joint embodyingthe invention has companionfishplates disposed upon opposite sides thereof and made secure by bolts10 which passthrough registering openings formed in the web portions ofthe rail ends and in the vertical members 2 of thev ishplate. Thehorizontal members 3 of the'fishplate overlying the base flangesoftherail ends are secured to the tie 11 by and the end portions slopingoutwardly in opposite directions, and the intermediate portion of thehorizontalmember being holoW u on its bottom side.

2. fishplate for a ruil joint, the same comy.ising vertical andhorizontal members, the intermediate portion of the top edge of thevertical member being straight and the end portions sloping outwardl inopposite directions, and the interme iate portion'of the horizontalmember being hol-

